Tilting crucible with smoke seal means



April 2, 1963 K. LANGER ETAL TILTING CRUCIBLE WITH SMOKE SEAL MEANS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 29, 1959 L.% MT

April 2, 1963 K. LANGER ETAL TILTING CRUCIBLE WITH SMOKE SEAL MEANS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 29, 1959 FIG. 4

INVENTORS. KONRAD LANGER 8| BY FRANZ PENN iheir ATTORNEYS April 2, 1963 K. LANGER ETAL TILTING CRUCIBLE WITH SMOKE SEAL MEANS 4 Sheets- Sheet 4 Filed July 29, 1959 INVENTORS. KONRAD LANGER 8| FRANZ PENN their 47' T ORA/E Y5 3,083,957 Patented Apr. 2, 1963 3,083,957 TELTING CRUCELE WITH SMOKE SEAL MEANS Konrad Langer and Franz Penn, Linz, Austria, assignors to Vereinigte Usterreichische Eisenund Stahlwerke Aktiengesellschait, Linz, Austria, 2 company of Austria Filed July 29, 1959, Ser. No. 830,313 Claims priority, application Austria Aug. 6, 1958 2 lllaims. (Cl. 26636) Ths invention relates to an installation for refining crude iron, in which the refining agent, particularly oxygen is blown from above onto the surface of the molten bath.

Known installations for carrying out such processes comprise a crucible, which is of cylindrical or pear shape and provided with a refractory lining and may carry a cover having one or more passage openings, a blowing device which is disposed above the crucible and can be vertically lifted and lowered, feed chutes for additions to be fed during operation, and a flue or chimney, which is disposed above the crucible and through which the smoke is withdrawn or passed to a dust collector. These installations contain also a number of additional and auxiliary devices such as hydraulic pumps for elfecting the tiling movement of the crucible, cranes, slag and steel ladles with the necessary transport means, one or several operat ing platforms and the like.

A main difiiculty arising in the known installations resides in the discharge of the smoke and of the slopping from the mouth of the crucible in conjunction with an appropriate sealing relative to the working room. Various proposals, part of which are very complicated, have been made for this purpose but have not proved satisfactory because it has not been possible to ensure, on the one hand, a free access to the crucible before and after the re fining, i.e., during the charging, deslagging and emptying operations and to provide the space required for these operations, and, on the other hand, to provide the seal required during operation. This may mainly be explained in that the devices disposed above the mouth of the crucible, namely, the blowing device with the feed conduits for the refining agent and cooling medium and the means for sealing on the flue were stationary. These parts are fairly susceptible to damage so that difficulties arose already during charging in many cases and an undesirably long time was required for preparation.

The present invention has as its object to avoid these diiilculties. It resides in that a cover hood, which has a passage opening for the blowing tube and, ifdesired, for additions to be fed during operation, is slidably arranged above the mouth of the crucible and in the blowing position provides a tight seal downwardly onto the crucible and upwardly on the stationary flue. This construction avaids the previously occurring difficulties and ensures a satisfactory seal during the refining period and an adequate freedom of movement around the crucible before and after the blowing period.

In conjunction therewith the invention proposes also an improved arrangement of the blowing device and of the auxiliary devices, also with the object of improving the access to the crucible.

An understanding of further particulars of the invention may be obtained from a consideration of the following detailed description of a representative embodiment thereof, in conjunction with the accompanying figures in the drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the installation of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a view in elevation similar to FIG. 2 but showing a blowing lance projecting into a crucible; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a cover hood constructed in accordance with the invention and somewhat offset or displaced horizontally from a smoke-conducting position with respect to a crucible and showing in phantom outline the position of the cover hood when it is in the smoke-conducting position.

The installation shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a cylindrical crucible 1 which has a refractory lining and which is held by a carrying ring '2 extending around the shell of the crucible approximately on the level of the center of gravity. The carrying ring is rigidly connected to two trunnions 3, which are in operative connection with the tilting drive 4. With the aid of this tilting drive the crucible 1 can be rotated in both directions in the plane which is at right angles to the axis of the trunnions. At its mouth the crucible carries a cover 5, which has a passage opening 6 for the blowing device and a tapping hole 7. Below the crucible 1 a pouring aisle may be disposed, in which trucks carrying slag and steel ladles are movable on a track (not shown).

Above the mouth of the crucible the cover hood 8 is disposed, the lower rim of which is half-round and conforms to the cover of the crucible. As a counterpart of the lower rim of the hood the cover of the crucible carries a strip 9, which is in tight engagement. In longitudinal section the cover hood is approximately trapezoidal in shape, as is shown in FIG. 2. The cover hood merges upwardly into a cylindrical part 10, which is connected to the flue or chimney 11 and the cross-section of which equals the cross-section of the flue. The part 10 is obliquely cut at the top and fits exactly the connecting piece 12 of the flue; this piece 12 is also obliquely cut. This oblique joint prevents these parts from canting during their displacement, which will be described hereinafter.

According to the invention the cover hood 8 is displaceable rather than stationary. For this purpose the cover hood is movable with wheels 13 on a track 14. This track is mounted on the stationary side structure of the installation somewhat below the level of the mouth of the crucible. As is apparent from FIG. 2 the cover hood 8 can be displaced from the blowing position shown with solid lines to the preparing position 15 shown with dash-and-dot lines.

The cover hood 8 has on its front side a vertical connecting pipe 16 with a passage opening for inserting a blowing tube. This connecting pipe is connected to a lateral feed funnel 17, which terminates on the level of the operating platform 18. This feed funnel is intended for the feeding of additions during the refining period. The additions slide through the funnel 17 into the connecting pipe 16 and from there through the passage opening in the cover hood into the crucible.

In the blowing position of the cover hood the vertical connecting pipe 16 lies in the path of the pivotal movement of the pivoted bracket 19 carried by the stationary side structure of the installation. This bracket has a vertical guide, e.g., guide rails 20, on which a slide car 22 carrying the blowing tube 21 is vertically slidably guided. The pivotal movement of the support 19 and the vertical displacement of the slide car 22 are electrically remotely controlled.

When the blowing has been terminated the blowing tube 21 is lifted, the pivoted bracket 19' is swung out of the blowing position and the cover hood with the connecting pipe 16 and the funnel 17 is displaced to position 15. Now the crucible is freely accessible from all sides. The displacement of the cover hood from the blowing position to position 15 permits a free rotation of the crucible in both directions ofthe tilting plane (corresponding to the plane of the drawing of FIG. 2). With the aid of a crane 23 disposed above the crucible, various operations can be performed, e.g., the lifting of the cover of the crucible, therelining of the. crucible, etc. Deslagging can be efiected after the crucible has been tilted to the left from the position of FIG. 2whereas the taking of a steel sampleand the pouring can be effected after the crucible has been tilted to the right from the position of FIG. 2. The free tiltability of the crucible in two directions has essential advantages in continuous operation-because it enables a better utilization of the installation. In the pouring aisle, cars with slag ladles and. cars with steel ladles can alternate, wherebya continuous operation is enabledand the time required is reduced.

Another essential-advantage of the arrangement according to the invention resides in that the crucible can be arranged directlyzbelow a craneway and can be reached by the hook of the crane. In the known installations in which .a non=displaccable hood is provided above the crucible it was not possible to work in or at thecrucible with direct use of a crane.

What we claim is:

- 1. Apparatus for refining crude iron comprising a tiltable crucible having a passage opening formed in an upper portion thereof and first smoke-seal means formedaround said passage opening, flue means mounted above said crucible in spaced-apart relation thereto for discharging smoke therefrom and having a lower fine opening and second smoke-seal means formed around said lower flue opening,

a hollow cover hoodhaving lower and upper openings, said lower hood opening having thirdsmoke-seal means formed therearound and said.upper hood opening having fourth smokeseal means formed therearound, said first and thirdsmoke-seal means being complementally formed and said. third smokeseal means having a firstportion engageable with a side of said crucible and a second portion connected to said first portiomforming an angle with respect thereto, and engageable with the top of said crucible and said second and fourth smoke-seal means being complementally formed and having an inclination to the horizontal whereby said hood is adapted to be inserted in wedge-like fashion between said crucible and said flue, and

means. mounting said .hood for horizontal movement between (a) a smoke-conducting position in which said first and third smoke-sea1 means are in engaging relation, said lower hood opening and said passage opening are in'srnoke-conducting relation, said second and fourth smoke-seal means are in engaging 'relationand said upper hood opening and said lower flue opening are in smoke-conducting relation and (b) a crucible-access position in which said cover hood is horizontally offset from said smoke-conducting position.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said horizontal movement is substantially linear and in which said first smoke-seal means comprises a flange formed adjacent to said passage opening and extending outwardly from said crucible, said third smoke-seal means comprises means engageable with said flange, and said second-and fourth smoke-seal means comprise annular surfaces each lying wholly in one plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,847,206 McFeathers Aug. 12, 1958 2,855,194 Konig Oct. 7, 1958 2,862,701 McFeathers Dec. 2, 1958 2,886,308 Boynton May 12, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 220,279 Great Britain Feb. 19, 1925 249,186 Great Britain Mar. 10, 1926 OTHER REFERENCES Journ. of Metals, pages 762-763, June 1956. German application, H 16941 VI/ 8b, Oct. 31, 1956. 

1. APPARATUS FOR REFINING CRUDE IRON COMPRISING A TILTABLE CRUCIBLE HAVING A PASSAGE OPENING FORMED IN AN UPPER PORTION THEREOF AND FIRST SMOKE-SEAL MEANS FORMED AROUND SAID PASSAGE OPENING, FLUE MEANS MOUNTED ABOVE SAID CRUCIBLE IN SPACED-APART RELATION THERETO FOR DISCHARGING SMOKE THEREFROM AND HAVING A LOWER FLUE OPENING AND SECOND SMOKE-SEAL MEANS FORMED AROUND SAID LOWER FLUE OPENING, A HOLLOW COVER HOOD HAVING LOWER AND UPPER OPENINGS, SAID LOWER HOOD OPENING HAVING THIRD SMOKE-SEAL MEANS FORMED THEREAROUND AND SAID UPPER HOOD OPENING HAVING FOURTH SMOKE-SEAL MEANS FORMED THEREAROUND, SAID FIRST AND THIRD SMOKE-SEAL MEANS BEING COMPLEMENTALLY FORMED AND SAID THIRD SMOKESEAL MEANS HAVING A FIRST PORTION ENGAGEABLE WITH A SIDE OF SAID CRUCIBLE AND A SECOND PORTION CONNECTED TO SAID FIRST PORTION, FORMING AN ANGLE WITH RESPECT THERETO, AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE TOP OF SAID CRUCIBLE AND SAID SECOND AND FOURTH SMOKE-SEAL MEANS BEING COMPLEMENTALLY FORMED AND HAVING AN INCLINATION TO THE HORIZONTAL WHEREBY SAID HOOD IS ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED IN WEDGE-LIKE FASHION BETWEEN SAID CRUCIBLE AND SAID FLUE, AND MEANS MOUNTING SAID HOOD FOR HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT BETWEEN (A) A SMOKE-CONDUCTING POSITION IN WHICH SAID FIRST AND THIRD SMOKE-SEAL MEANS ARE IN ENGAGING RELATION, SAID LOWER HOOD OPENING AND SAID PASSAGE OPENING ARE IN SMOKE-CONDUCTING RELATION, SAID SECOND AND FOURTH SMOKE-SEAL MEANS ARE IN ENGAGING RELATION AND SAID UPPER HOOD OPENING AND SAID LOWER FLUE OPENING ARE IN SMOKE-CONDUCTING RELATION AND (B) A CRUCIBLE-ACCESS POSITION IN WHICH SAID COVER HOOD IS HORIZONTALLY OFFSET FROM SAID SMOKE-CONDUCTING POSITION. 